This Week’s Tarot, 17-23 Oct 2016

This week, Universal energies are seriously heating up as Libra season finally segues into Scorpio season on Saturday, 22 October. Libra’s harmonious energies don’t have to end – love and peace are always a choice we can make! – but Scorpio, being a fixed Water sign, is all about doing the inner work, delving deep into our souls to face our deepest hopes and fears. This sign is intense, mysterious, naturally drawn to mysticism and the esoteric arts.

This Week’s Tarot is all about doing the inner work of healing ourselves, first by being true to who we are and what we stand for. In order to do that, we must be honest about what faces we present to the world, and who we really are when no one’s looking. Here we go! 🙂

RIGHT: KING OF SWORDS. This is the first face many of us like to show the world: the cool person, the one who’s got his/her act together, the one who’s smart and capable… and always keeps his Sword up in defence against attacks to his ego. Notice this King’s Sword is held close to his face: this aspect of ourselves is all about saving face and, in the process, hiding a part of who we are from the rest of the world – even those who genuinely love and care for us.

Dear one, it is wise to keep parts of yourself private, but are you pushing away family, friends and loved ones in the process? Internally, you could be having a meltdown, but you’d rather stab yourself and die before you ever admit to vulnerability. Are you sure that’s such a good idea?

MIDDLE: QUEEN OF PENTACLES. This card represents our inner self, and the Queen of Pentacles is all about nurturing oneself and others. Like the REM song goes, “Everybody hurts, and sometimes, everybody cries”. The Queen of Pentacles in the inner self position suggests that we need to take care of this aspect of our being. More self-love and self-care is needed; stop feeling guilty and just take time off for a spa day!

Alternatively, it would enrich your soul to find a cause to care for as well. Volunteering to help the elderly, the handicapped, or abandoned pets would be a nice change from reflecting on your hectic life and wondering why it still feels so… empty.

RIGHT: KNIGHT OF RODS. Here’s the other face we show to the world. Notice that the facades we present to the world tend to be more masculine? It’s only natural: we feel the need to act tough to defend our inner Queen of Pentacles from being hurt by a world that can be unpredictable and even harsh. This Week’s Tarot calls for a balance between the masculine and feminine sides of ourselves, and while the Knight of Rods still tends to be more masculine than feminine, his message is for us to take hold of our passions and engage in exuberant, enthusiastic action to meet our goals.

In the Tarot Court, The Knights act in service of the Kings and Queens. Here, the King of Swords is looking away – he really doesn’t care for anything else except saving face – but the Queen of Pentacles is looking towards the Knight of Rods as if to say Go forth, and do my will.

Folks, it’s clear what This Week’s Tarot encourages us to do: commit to honesty, authenticity and healing our inner selves, stop obsessing over saving face, and take action to follow our hearts and live our best lives. Let’s get the fire back in our souls, everyone.

Also, please note: as we move from Libra into Scorpio season, we’re headed into the Libra-Scorpio cusp (a cusp is an in-between period between signs, roughly the last five days of one sign’s season and the first five days of the next). The free, happy-go-lucky Libra energies are evolving, becoming more intense and emotionally driven as we move into Scorpio. This, as well as aggressive Mars and furtive Pluto meeting in power-hungry Capricorn on Wednesday 19 October, indicates that energies are ripe for a power showdown. Egos may bloat, tempers may fly, everyone fights to win, and quoting a fabulous friend of mine, “Everyone’s just full of macho sh*t these days”.

How to deal? Easy, folks: ride the Libra-Scorpio cusp wave and CHILL. Focus on creating an enhanced version of your wonderful self, and don’t get sucked into senseless rivalries. You can do this!